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Mark Measer to Head EPA’s Criminal Investigation Program in Pacific Northwest

Release Date: 03/12/2009
Contact Information: Mark MacIntyre, EPA/Seattle, 206-553-7302, macintyre.mark@epa.gov

(Seattle, Washington - March 11, 2009) Mark Measer, a 33–year federal law enforcement veteran, has joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division in Seattle, Washington, as the Special-Agent-in-Charge. The EPA Criminal Investigation Division’s (CID) mission is to investigate allegations of the most egregious violations of the federal environmental statutes, and to assist the Department of Justice in the prosecution of individuals and corporations charged with criminal offenses.

In his new capacity as the top criminal enforcement official in EPA’s Northwest office, Measer will supervise environmental crimes investigations Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. SAC Measer began his federal law enforcement career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and later served as a Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to Measer, criminal prosecution can serve as an “unseen hand” in the region’s commercial marketplace.

“It sounds counter-intuitive,” says Measer. “But our criminal enforcement program plays an important role in protecting the Northwest’s economic vitality. Our experience has shown that vigorous, even-handed enforcement acts as a real deterrent to future violations and provides a level playing field for those businesses that ‘play by the rules’."

In 1991, Mark joined EPA’s CID as a Special Agent in San Francisco. He later served as the Resident Agent in Charge, Miami, and then in Denver as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge and later Special Agent in Charge. In 2003, Mark was reassigned to be EPA’s representative at the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) in Lyon, France; there he served as the lead officer for INTERPOL's pollution crimes efforts. In 2007, Mark returned to CID Headquarters and served as Associate Director for Policy and International Programs, prior to his reassignment to Seattle.

Comprised of nearly 200 highly-trained criminal investigators with full law enforcement authority, EPA’s criminal enforcement program was established in 1983 and is integral to the Agency’s overall enforcement work.

There is a CID Area Office housed within each of EPA’s ten Regional offices, with smaller resident offices in several dozen other locations across the country.